(photo courtesy Esther Lin/ Strikeforce)
Last night the Earth was without oxygen for just a second, as thousands upon thousands of MMA fans worldwide gasped in unison, while seeing Fedor Emelianenko tap out to Fabricio Werdum’s first round triangle-choke. Yes, many acknowledged the skills of Werdum heading into the bout, but few expected him to hand Fedor his first ‘legit’ loss in over 30 fights (some may have been hoping- right Dana?)
So, what the eff is next for “The Last Emperor” now? The script seemed to be that Fedor would beat Werdum and then fight Strikeforce’s Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem. Well, considering that the winner of last night’s bout was supposed to fight Alistair, Fabricio is a lock for a title shot right? And Fedor will have to look elsewhere in the Strikeforce heavyweight division? Umm, seems not necessarily….
In a few reports today, it looks like the general ‘vibe’ stemming from last night’s post-fight press conference, is that Strikeforce is open to giving Fedor a rematch with Werdum. Both men said they’re willing, and while discussing the promotion’s heavyweight picture, Strikeforce boss man Scott Coker was quoted saying this (thanks to MMA Junkie for the quote):
“To me, Fabricio and Fedor is going to be a mega-fight that we should promote,” Coker said. “I also think that Fabricio vs. Alistair, the rematch against our champion, is something Alistair is going to want and would be another big fight. I think that the fight between Fedor and Alistair should still happen, as well.”
So, while Coker didn’t commit to an immediate rematch, he didn’t say that Alistair vs. Werdum was a lock either….Guess only time (with M-1 Global’s two huge cents in there) will tell.